NCGOP and AG at odds over crime lab rape kits

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — North Carolina Republicans are raising questions about Attorney General Roy Cooper and his leadership of the state crime lab, meanwhile Cooper’s team is firing back at some of the claims.

Former State Senator Thom Goolsby held a news conference in Wilmington today questioning how the crime lab has handled rape kits.

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The GOP claims that Cooper’s leadership of the lab was so bad, it led to it being removed from under his control. Cooper’s team denies the statement, because the lab is still part of the Department of Justice, which Cooper heads as AG.

Goolsby stated that North Carolina needs more from its state forensics team. He said, “People of this state deserve a State Bureau of Investigation that they can be proud of that isn’t having scandal, after scandal and problem after problem and cases having to be retried because of problems.”

Cooper’s campaign sent us this statement saying in part, “As chairman of the committee that funded the crime lab, Senator Thom Goolsby ignored requests for increased crime lab funding from the attorney general, and now he is using it to launch false political attacks on behalf of the governor. This is shameful.”